Patient’s Psychological Perception of Topical Anesthetic in Reducing Dental Needle Pain: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Background: Needle fear is one of the most common fears in dental treatment, thus, patients’ demand for topical anesthetics has been increasing significantly. Topical anesthetic has always been generally supported as a technique for decreasing anxiety and discomfort related to needle insertion and its important part in the atraumatic injection of local anesthesia. Objective: This study aims to investigate patients’ psychological and physiological aspects of topical anesthetics in reducing dental needle pain. Materials and Methods: The data were collected from patients attending the Dental University Hospital at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The targeted subjects were patients with no previous or current history of psychological impairment or prior history of pain disorder. Results: The most commonly perceived benefits of topical anesthesia were local numbness (50.1%) and relaxation (33.0%). Most of the participants had ever requested a topical anesthetic before injection. The most common reasons were anxiety and tension due to needle pain (53.2%) and previous experiences with injection-related pain (42.9%). Conclusion: This study showed that the topical anesthetic has a significant psychological impact on patient’s attitudes toward dental treatment with most patients demanding topical anesthetic before dental injections to reduce their level of anxiety and fear before dental injections.